cafnr

Hank Foley, Interim Chancellor of the University of Missouri, announced Friday that MU alumni Barry and Marge Slayton donated $2.65 million to the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR). The gift will support beef genomics and nutrition research, aiming to improve the nutritional quality of cattle and the reproduction practices of beef farmers.

Trainees headed for service in the US Peace Corps train in their country of service. It's been that way for years. For two years in the late 1960s, however, the University of Missouri College of Agriculture hosted trainees on campus and at land that is now Three Creeks Conservation Area. On this episode of Thinking Out Loud, we hear memories from a group of men who trained for the US Peace Corps right here in Boone County.

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In 1966, about 100 young people gathered in Columbia to train as Peace Corps volunteers. On this episode of Thinking Out Loud, KBIA's Trevor Harris talks with four returned Peace Corps volunteers who were among a group that reunited recently 49 years after they trained on the MU campus and at land that is now Three Creeks Conservation Area.

Veterinarian Lynn Steele grows switchgrass on his farm to feed his hundred head of cattle. He favors the wild-growing grass over other commercial feeds because it’s cheap.

“Even when the price is high [for switchgrass], it’s 4, 5, 6 dollars a pound for seed,” Steele said. “Indian grass and Big Blue Stem 12 and 15 dollars a pound. You get quite a bit of investment there.”

A report in April from the Washington based environmental group Food and Water Watch researched the relationship between public universities and the corporations that give the schools agriculture research grants. The study found that corporate money was accounting for a large part of funding to agriculture schools all around the country, including the University of Missouri.

Wes and Simone Sorenson pledged to donate their house and the 400 acre farm it sits on 10 years ago, but the University wouldn’t take ownership until after they had died. Wes died in May, and now the University is discussing how to best use the land.